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These characters are not mine. Maybe they will be someday, but as of right now, they belong to their creators. :::sigh:::: However, the kitten is mine. His name is really Hades after the Greek god of the dead, then I got into Gundam Wing, and well.....

The Love of Shinigami

by Duo no Hime

"Duo, what are you doing, and why am I handcuffed to the bed?" Heero growled at the black clad boy sitting firmly on his chest.

Duo offered him his best grin. "You'll see. Just hold still. You'll feel much better once I'm done," he assured him, pulling a small container out of his pocket and unscrewing the lid. Heero looked doubtful, but as he couldn't really get away, he stayed put.

Duo dipped a finger into the jar, liberally coating a finger with the gooey, sweet scented stuff. Then, slowly, he extended the finger to Heero's mouth, and smeared the goop all over Heero's lips. With a satisfied smirk, he wiped his finger on his black pants, screwed the lid back on the jar, stood up and went to get the handcuff key.

"I don't know about you, but those chapped lips of yours were driving me crazy! They even looked painful! I couldn't take it anymore, and since I knew you weren't going to do anything about it, I had to. You can thank me later," Duo rambled on cheerfully, as he unlocked the handcuffs. "I still don't know why you wouldn't let me near you. If you had just held still, it wouldn't have been necessary to handcuff you down, but no. The great Heero Yuy just couldn't cooperate. You'd think you didn't trust me or something. Honestly, I don't know why you wouldn't with all the stuff we've done."

"Duo," Heero interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you have a pair of handcuffs just sitting around?"

Duo bit his lips, "Well, I do get arrested a lot, and sometimes I escape without getting the chance to remove the handcuffs. When I get home, I still have them, and they could come in handy someday, so I just keep them. I got three pairs."

"Hn," Heero reached a hand to his lips and wiped away some of the excess goo. Duo hadn't bothered to make sure it all stayed on Heero's lips.

"Taste it," Duo suddenly urged.

"Why?" Heero asked skeptically.

"Just do it." Duo watched quietly as Heero put his finger into his mouth. "You like it?"

Heero dropped his hand to his side, "It's flavored."

"Cherry! Cool, ne? Technically it's girls chapstick, but I personally like the flavors myself, so I made Hilde get if for me," Duo explained as he showed Heero the lid. "Don't you dare wipe it off either," he scolded as he saw Heero raising the back of his hand to his mouth.

With a sigh, he let his arm fall limp, "Can I lick it off then?"

Duo's eyes widened, but before he could comment, the phone rang. They looked at each other a moment, then Duo went and picked it up.

"Hello? ... Oh, hi Hilde! ... A party? You want me to come? ... No, I'm not doing anything. ... Hey! I'm not doing anyone either! Hentai! ... Sure thing. I'll be there in five minutes. ... Duh, I'll be wearing black! Okay. See ya in a few." Shaking his head, he hung up the phone. Then he turned to Heero, "Well, I've got a party to go to."

Heero had been secretly enjoying the time alone with Duo, and he really didn't want the braided pilot to go, but he had no choice in the matter.

"Have fun," he shrugged and went to work at his laptop.

Duo rummaged around in the closet for a few minutes before closing the door. Heero tried very hard to ignore the rustling of fabric as Duo changed clothes. Finally Duo waved a hand in front of Heero's face. "Oi, Heero, how do I look?"

To humor him, Heero turned his head and the first thought that went through his head was, "Wow." Duo was clad in a black, buttoned silk shirt with the first three buttons undone. Under the shirt he was wearing a tight, white tank top. His little golden cross rested gently on his lean chest. His pants were black, and very tight. "You look like Duo," Heero finally said.

"Gee, thanks. From you that's a compliment. At least I think it's a compliment to look like me, cause I'm so cute and all. It must have been a compliment." Duo stopped in the doorway, "Don't wait up for me. I might be out late, not like me coming home won't wake you anyway. You're such a light sleeper..." Duo's voice trailed off down the hall and cut off as the front door closed behind him.

Heero went to the window and watched as Duo walked out of sight on his way to Hilde's house, which happened to be nearby. Then he turned off his laptop and sat down in a chair. He tried reading a book, but without Duo's constant interruptions, he couldn't force himself to read.

For lack of anything better to do, he got up and began pacing restlessly around the small house. A few weeks previously, he had run into Duo on another mission. He had been injured, and Duo had taken him in until he had gotten better. At the time, Duo had been living with Hilde, but when Heero showed up, he thought he was imposing on Hilde just a little too much.

Now they lived in a small, one story house in a quiet neighborhood. The house had a kitchen, one bathroom, a small living room and one rather large bedroom. The living room held a couch and a small TV. The bedroom had two beds, a desk for Heero's laptop, two closets and Duo's battered old stereo. It wasn't luxury, but it sufficed.

Heero could still remember Duo fussing over him when he had been injured. Most of the time, an injury couldn't keep Heero Yuy off his feet, but when several injuries teamed up against him, namely two broken legs, six broken ribs, and a fractured skull, even the perfect soldier could require a little time to heal.

Duo hadn't let him get out of bed for two weeks. He had brought him all his food in bed, as well as entertained him. Once, Duo had sung for Heero, so he wouldn't get bored stuck in bed. Heero suspected Duo had just been looking for an excuse to sing without getting yelled at.

Whenever a mission had come for Duo, he would try to have Quatre or Trowa take it for him, and if that failed, he would ask Hilde over to watch Heero while he was gone. After all that work on Duo's part, Heero had been unable to make himself leave after he had healed.

Suddenly the door burst open, startling Heero out of his reverie. Duo rushed past him into the bedroom. Quickly Heero followed to see what was wrong.

Duo kept his back firmly to Heero, his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. "Stupid Hilde.. I didn't know it was an all girls slumber party. I didn't know I was the only boy that was going to be there. Stupid girls!"

Heero gently placed his hands on Duo's shoulders and spun him around. Duo must have seen the upturning of Heero's lips, because he glared angrily and jabbed a finger into Heero's chest. "Do not even think about laughing, Yuy," he growled.

It was too much. Heero burst out laughing. "Oh, you like this, eh? You think this is funny? Fine, I'll just dress like this more often for your highness's amusement."

Heero finally calmed down, "Duo, I never knew you would look so good in eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick. And that black nailpolish is a great look on you."

Duo rubbed at his hands self consciously. "Jerk," he muttered darkly. "And those evil demons dared to touch my braid!" Duo yanked his braid around in front of him and showed it in Heero's face so he too could see the injustice done to his beloved hair. "They put little flower petals in my hair! You know those little white clovers? They pulled the petals off and put them in MY HAIR!"

Heero fought off another fit of laughter. He couldn't remember ever being this amused before. "Really? I thought that was just dandruff."

Duo's eyes widened in indignation. "I. do. not. have. dandruff," he hissed.

"Fine. Go get cleaned. You look ridiculous," Heero gestured to the bathroom.

Grumbling under his breath, Duo shoved past him. Just then, Heero had an idea. "Wait, Duo!"

"What Heero?" Duo asked wearily, turning around.

"Smile," Heero pushed the shutter release on Duo's camera, capturing the instant forever. Duo gave him a dirty look and closed the bathroom door behind him. Heero set the camera back down on the desk, glad Duo had recently put new film in it. Duo loved taking pictures. He had several rolls of photos of Heero doing various boring things, mostly working at his laptop. It was spring time in the colony, so the scenery was great for countless shots.

After noticing that it was after eleven o'clock, Heero stripped down to his boxers and slid into bed. Several minutes later the sounds of running water in the bathroom stopped. Not long after, Duo emerged, gently running a brush through his hair. Padding around in his tank top and boxers, Duo absently braided his hair as he searched for something.

"There you are!" Duo finished tying off his braid and swooped down on his intended victim. He came up with a little bundle of dark fur that he cradled against his chest as he climbed into his bed.

"Stop torturing the poor kitten," Heero muttered in the dark.

Duo kissed the kitten's little nose and the kitten recoiled in disgust. "Aww, my little Shinigami loves me. Don't you?" he asked the kitten who tried to bite his hand. "I know you love you," He pressed his cheek to the soft fur.

"Duo, you're going to make me sick," Heero warned.

Setting the kitten on the mattress next to him, Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero in the darkness. Then he lay back on the bed, still holding onto the squirming kitten.

Everything was quiet until Duo spoke up, "Heero?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember your parents?"

Heero concentrated for a minute, trying to catch a wisp of memory that drifted across his mind. "No," he finally replied as the memory evaded him.

"I do," Duo remarked in a subdued voice. "A little anyway. I remember my mother. She used to sing to me. It was a stupid little song, but still. It was a mother thing I guess. Let's see, how did it go again..." Duo began to sing in a quiet voice, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray, nobody knows, dear, how much I love you, so please don't take my sunshine away." Duo laughed bitterly once he finished the song, "Some sunshine I am, ne?"

"So you only pretend to be cheerful and happy?" Heero asked, intrigued by this new, thoughtful and infinitely more quiet Duo.

"No, not really. My philosophy is, if it's happened, it can't change and no amount of tears or sulking is gonna fix it. I've learned to let go. I pretty much have to, or I'd be a suicidal maniac like someone I know," Duo turned his head to look at Heero.

"Point taken," Heero smirked.

Duo rewarded him with a sunny smile. "I really am as cheerful as I act. Optimistic people always live longer than the pessimists. I hope to live a long life if this war ever ends. Every now and then I'll remember the past and get a bit depressed and lonely, but when that happens, I go off by myself so I don't drag anyone down with me. I don't want to make anyone depressed! I may call myself Shinigami, but I'm not really that dark and brooding. I just have a rather macabre sense of humor."

"You've been loved. How unhappy can you be?" Heero remarked, remembering a young boy who had been told he was unlovable by the closest thing he had ever had to a parent.

"Well, yeah, I've been loved. They all died, but they loved me," Duo chuckled mirthlessly.

"And you're loved now. Hilde loves you. Quatre adores you. Wherever we go to school, you're instantly popular. People love you. Nobody ever has, or ever will love me. I don't even think it's possible."

"What are you talking about Heero?" Duo's voice held confusion, and some other deeper, unnamed emotion.

"When I was young, the man who raised me, that I thought of as a father, told me that he didn't love me. I guess that has a rather strong impact on a young child. He also told me that love was worthless. For a long time, I believed him. Then I met you and the other pilots. I see Quatre and Trowa together. I see the good it does for them. Now I'm not so sure love is worthless, but I know that no one could love me, because I'm cruel and heartless," Heero finished, surprised at himself for revealing so much to Duo.

"You're not totally unlovable Heero! I mean, Relena worships you so much she follows you around like a puppy dog! And Trowa idolizes you! And Quatre likes you!" Duo pointed out.

Heero counted on his fingers, "Relena's an idiot. Trowa worships me for being a suicidal stoic, or at least he did worship me until he fell for Quatre. Quatre loves everybody. Besides, what about you?"

"Me?" Duo squeaked.

"Yes, you. You probably hate me, especially considering how much you see of me. It's not like I'm exactly nice to you."

Slowly Duo pushed the blankets off and stood up, clutching the poor little bundle of fur. He walked over to Heero's bed and looked at him. "I don't hate you." He held the kitten in Heero's face, "And neither does little Shinigami."

Heero chuckled, reached out and took the kitten, who gave a tiny mew of unhappiness. The Japanese boy ignored it and settled the kitten on the bed next to him, one hand holding it down firmly so it couldn't run away. "I think you're wrong. I don't think he likes me."

Duo snorted and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "He's a rotten little cat. He doesn't like anyone. Only shoestrings."

Heero scratched the tiny little kitty Duo had adopted two weeks before, under the chin. The kitten closed his eyes contentedly, leaning against his finger. "That's true. He is rotten. Maybe because he's named Death."

Duo shrugged and climbed back into bed. "Naming him Shinigami has nothing to do with his bad attitude. Besides, Shinigami does love you."

With that Duo pulled the blankets over his head and dozed off, leaving Heero to wonder exactly which Shinigami he meant. Eventually he fell asleep to the gentle sounds of purring and water dripping in the shower.

That night he dreamt of riding in a boat in a lake the blue of Duo's eyes, with the braided baka sitting beside him, long hair whipping around them both and getting into Heero's face. The next morning Heero shoved the kitten off of his forehead where it had decided to fall asleep, and promptly rushed to the bathroom. Dreaming of all that water had that effect on him.

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